The Dark I Know Well
by I.am.an.illusion
Summary: Emmeline Snape has led a hard, dark life. She has no one but her brother, Severus. In her 6th year at Hogwarts she watches as her brother changes and learns what it is to be loved and cared for by a group called The Order of The Pheonix.
1. Prologue

I heard a knock on my door as I sat on my bed in tears.

"Go away! I yelled.

"Emmeline unlock the door." I heard my brother, Severus's voice on the other side of the door.

"No!" I yelled back.

"Fine." He huffed. "Alohamora." And the door swung open and my brother walked into my small and dark room.

"I want to be alone, Severus." I said and began crying again. Severus ran over to me, sat on my bed, and put his arm around me.

"Emmy, it's going to be okay." He said as I cried on his shoulder.

"I just can't deal with it anymore, Sev." I said through my sobs and he began to stoke my long, dark hair.

"I know. But we only have a few more days and then we'll be out." Severus said trying to comfort me.

"No. **You'll** be out!" I cried. "It's your last year at Hogwarts and you won't have to come back home. You'll be free. But me? I have to be here another whole year after you. How am I going to deal with Dad alone. Without you? I've never been without you before, Sev."

"Emmeline, you don't think that I'd really abandon you here, do you?" He gave me a brotherly hug.

"Ow."

"What?" He asked and I lifted up my shirt sleeve to show Severus the huge bruise on my arm. "Dad did that to you?"

I nodded.

"Emmeline... This isn't fair! We have to get out of here! Three days until we leave for Hogwarts and then after I graduate I'll get us a place and I'll get you out of here."

"You promise, Sev?"

"I swear it to you, Em. I can't let him hurt you anymore."

* * *

"You ready to go. Emmeline?" Severus asked me as I out the last of my things into my trunk.

"Ready." I said.

"Good. Let's go." He grabbed my trunk "Mother and Father are still asleep. We should make it of here pretty safely."

"Sev?" I said as he carried my trunk to the door.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think that maybe we should say good-bye to them?" I asked referring to our parents. "I mean we may never see them again."

"Em, why would we?"

"I mean they are our parents."

"Not much of parents were they?"

"Well-"

"Em, would a _real_ father have given you that bruise on your arm? Or how bout that one on your back from about a week ago? And that huge scar on your forearm?"

"Sev-"

"Or would a _real _mother watch her husband do that to her children?" He was angry as he opened the door for me. "No. They wouldn't Emmy. "

"I guess, not." I said as I walked out my front door for the last time.

"They don't deserve our good-byes."

I nodded as I turned to take one last look at my small, dingy, rundown home.

"Take a last look. This is the last time we're going to see this place. I promise." Severus said and he put his arm around me. "Well we better be off its nearly 10:30."

I grabbed Severus's arm and waited for the familiar sensation of side-along apparation to overcome me. The scene in front of me became blurry and I realized-

_I was finally free!_


	2. Emily

Severus and I arrived on Platform 9 ¾ and I looked at the scarlet train. This was going to be the last time that the two of us would get on the train together.

"Severus?" I turned to him as we were about to board the train.

"Yes, Em?"

"Promise me that you'll be here with me next year. Please?" I asked.

He turned me so that I was looking at him. He looked directly into my eyes and said "I will bring you here next year. You will not be alone. I promise you that."

"Thanks Severus." I said.

He put his arm around me and we boarded the train together.

"Are you going to sit with me and my friends?" He asked me. He was referring to his new "friends" Zander Avery and Anthony Mulcibur.

I was glad that Severus had found people who had accepted him but I knew deep down that there was something not quite right about the two of them.

I shook my head. "No Sev. I'll be okay." I said.

"Okay. I'll come check on you in a little bit." He said and I slid into an empty compartment.

I looked out the window and saw my fellow students saying good-bye to their parents and their parents hugging them and kissing them. This was something that I never had and I was very jealous as I watched the students on the platform. I had never had parents who cared about me or wanted to wish me well on my way to school. My eyes landed on Lily Evans, a very pretty 7th year girl with red hair and bright emerald eyes. I could see her new Head Girl badge gleaming on her chest. She was the only person, other than myself, that Severus had ever loved. A few feet away were Sirius Black and James Potter. These two boys were the people I hated most at Hogwarts. They had tortured Severus since 1st year for no good reason and they weren't exactly nice to me either. Although, to be honest, there were few people who were nice to Severus and myself at Hogwarts. The Slytherin House had accepted us but few had extended the hand of friendship to either of us. Severus had a reputation for not necessarily being the cleanest person in the world, being very interested in dark magic, and for being a nerd and I had lived in the shadow of that my entire time at Hogwarts.

* * *

Regulus Black walked onto the train with his best friends Evan Rosier and Rabastan Lestrange.

"Why are all of the compartments full?" Rabastan asked as they walked down the corridor trying to find a seat.

"Here. There's room in this one." Evan said.

"Snape's sitting in it." Rabastan said looking in the window.

Regulus looked in the window. A girl with sleek black hair, that was pulled into a long pony tail was looking out the window. "Oh. It's just Emmeline."

His friends looked unsure.

"There's nothing wrong with her." He said and opened the door.

She turned, a little startled and Regulus took a long look at her. He had never noticed how strangely pretty she was or maybe she had just changed over the summer. She was incredibly thin and wore a black turtle neck and grey skirt with black tights. Which Regulus found a little strange since it was quite warm outside. Her pale skin contrasted greatly with her black hair. It was almost like looking at a black and white photograph. Except that her eyes, which were a dark purple stood out along with her pale pink lips.

* * *

I was very startled when I heard the door to my compartment open. I turned to see three very handsome boys standing in the door to my compartment. Regulus Black, a haughty boy with black hair that fell into his stone grey eyes, stood in front of a very tall, lanky boy with sandy blonde hair named Evan Rosier, and behind him, Rabastan Lestrange, a shorter, stockier boy with curly brown hair and blue eyes.

"Do you mind if we sit here?" Regulus asked.

I just shook my head and Regulus sat down next to me and Evan and Rabastan sat across from us.

I found this very strange. None of these boys had really ever taken the time to speak to me. They were all in Slytherin and in my year and I had had many classes with all three of them, however, I didn't really know any of them. The reason that they had chosen to sit with me was very mind-boggling.

I looked around nervously at the three of them.

Regulus then asked. "How was your summer, Emmeline?"

"It was alright." I said timidly. "How was yours?"

He smiled. "It was pretty awesome. I went on holiday to Spain with my parents."

"Wow." I said. "I've never been out of London. Except to go to Hogwarts."

"Really?" Evan asked. "Your family just stays at their manor all the time?"

Regulus shot Evan an "are you stupid?" look.

"umm. I don't exactly live in a manor…" I responded my voice trailing off at the end.

Evan just nodded. Apparently he didn't know many Slytherins who weren't from wealthy families.

The three boys became engrossed in conversation and I decided to get a book out of my bag and began reading.

The compartment door opened for a second time and in the door stood the most beautiful girl in Slytherin House, 5th year, Abelinda Rookwood. She was tall with honey-blonde hair that fell in perfect curls, bright blue eyes, a perfect smile and a body most girls would pay a lot of money to have.

"What are you boys doing down here?" She asked. "There's room in my compartment." She said shooting Regulus a dazzling smile. "Plus this one is a little…Let's just say you can sit somewhere better."

I continued to read pretending that I couldn't hear her.

"Thanks, Abby, but we're fine here." Regulus said.

She tossed her hair and said. "Alright, then. I guess I'll see you around later."

The other boys pounced on Regulus the moment the door closed.

"Abelinda Rookwood just invited us to sit with her and you said no?" Evan asked.

"She's the prettiest girl in the school!" Rabastan yelled.

Regulus shrugged. "Yeah, she's pretty but have you ever actually talked to her? She's about as smart as History of Magic is interesting."

Evan gave him a weird look. "Since when are you interested in girls for their brains?"

"I'm not saying I wouldn't _date_ her, just that I don't want to ride the rest of the way to school listening to her."

The other boys nodded.

I came to the end of the chapter in my book and decided that it was about time for me to change into my robes.

I stood up.

"Where are you going?" Regulus asked.

"Just to change into my robes." I said and exited the compartment.

I reached the changing rooms and almost turned around as James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew were hanging around outside of them. I decided to try to sneak past them without them noticing me and was successful. However, on my way back out I was not so lucky.

"Snivelly's sister." I heard the voice of Sirius Black say.

I kept walking without looking back toward him.

"We're talking to you, Emily." James Potter said.

"Don't call me that" I mumbled turning around. Emily was what my father called me…not as nickname but because he didn't remember my name was Emmeline when he was drunk…which was most of the time.

The three of them walked up to me. "And why not?"

"What are you guys doing?" I heard the voice of Remus Lupin who had just come out of the dressing rooms.

Peter responded. "Just asking Snivelly's sister how her summer was."

"Leave her alone, guys. Has she done anything to you?" Remus asked.

"She's related to Snivelly. That alone is enough." Sirius Black laughed.

"Come on." Remus said. "Lay off. Let's go back to our compartment." He said and the three of them turned and walked off the other direction. Remus turned to look at me. I gave him a small smile to say thank you. He nodded and followed his friends back to their compartment.


	3. Bruised

It was the first day of classes. I woke up and walked down to the Great Hall to have some breakfast. I hoped that after a few weeks at Hogwarts, I would begin to not look so sickly.

As I entered the Great Hall, I heard someone calling my name and turned to see Severus sitting towards the center of the long Slytherin table.

"Emmeline! Over here!" He called put his hand on the spot next to him. Zander Avery and Anthony Mulcibur were sitting across from him.

I took the seat next to Severus and the three of them were discussing something very quietly that I did not understand.

"He's going to be at the Hog's Head on our first Hogsmeade visit." Avery said.

Severus nodded. "Who does he want?"

"He wants the three of us and Lestrange. As of now." He said. "He's the one who knows. He wants us to recruit some others. Lestrange is working on Black and Rosier but he may need help to convince them." Avery then jerked his head towards me. "You could bring her, too."

Severus shook his head. "I'm not involving Em in this."

I gave him a questioning look. I wanted to know what the three of them were talking about.

"Don't worry." Severus whispered to me. "I'll talk to you about it later."

"Alright, well we need to be off Runes, Snape." Anthony said as he and Zander stood up.

Severus nodded and stood up also. "What do you have this morning?" He asked me.

"Transfiguration." I said.

"Alright. Well, I'll see you tonight."

"Bye Sev."

I sat alone and continued to finish my breakfast wondering what in the world my brother was involved in and knowing that it couldn't be good.

I noticed that a few feet away from me was Regulus Black, Evan Rosier, and Rabastan Lestrange. Abelinda Rookwood was sitting next to Regulus and across from Evan Rosier. I could here bits and pieces of their conversation.

"Come on, Abby. One date?" Evan asked.

She shook her head. "I'm not interested, Evan. I'm sorry." She said and got up to go sit with her friends.

Evan picked up a spoon to us it as a mirror. "It can't be my looks. She cannot possibly be rejecting me because I'm not handsome enough."

Regulus and Rabastan just exchanged looks and rolled their eyes. I couldn't help but smile a bit to myself and wish that I could be their friend.

I looked up at the large clock and realized that it was time for me to go to Transfiguration and I was going to be late.

I got up rather quickly and started rushing to try to get there on time. I was rushing down the hallway and I didn't notice Remus Lupin and Sirius Black picking up what had fallen out of Lupin's bag as the bottom had fallen out. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground and laying in a puddle of ink.

I could hear laughter surrounding me in the hallway just outside of the Transfiguration classroom.

"What in the world is going on out here?" I heard the voice of Professor McGonagall ask.

"Snape just fell in a puddle ink, Professor." Sirius said snickering.

I felt so embarrassed. I knew I was covered in black ink and I wanted to get up. I really did, but I just didn't have the strength and I was pretty sure I had sprained my ankle. There I was just laying in the middle of the hall, people laughing at me.

"All of you get to class." Professor McGonagall said and came over to me and cleaned up the ink with her wand. "Are you alright, Ms. Snape?"

I tried to get up, but I couldn't. My back hurt so bad from where my father had hit me just a week ago and the fall had just made it worse and then there was the matter of my ankle.

"I can't get up, Professor." I said fighting back tears.

"Mr. Lupin, come back here." She called. "Not you Mr. Black. Get to class."

I heard Lupin's footsteps coming towards me. "Do you have class, now Mr. Lupin?"

"No. I was just walking with Sirius to Runes on the way back to the Common Room." He said.

"Wonderful. You will accompany Ms. Snape to the Hospital Wing. I believe she has been injured quite badly." McGonagall said.

"Of course, Professor."

I groaned inwardly. I did not want one of _them _taking me up to the Hospital Wing so they could make fun of me later. However, I figured Lupin would be the best option of the four of them if I had no other choice.

"Professor, I can't miss class." I said quietly, still laying on the ground.

"Come and see me later this evening if you can and I'll catch you up." She said.

I nodded. "Thank you."

"Now off to the Hospital Wing with you." She said and went back into her classroom.

Lupin was now standing over me. "Can you get up?" he asked timidly.

"I don't know. I hurt my back." I said quietly. "And my ankle I think is sprained or something."

He nodded. "Okay give me your hand." He said and put his hand out in front of me.

I lifted my arm (which was quite painful from my other bruise) and put my hand in Lupin's. When our hands touched I felt some kind of energy rush through my body and I felt very warm.

* * *

Remus stretched out his hand to help Emmeline up. Emmeline put her tiny hand in his and he felt something. He wasn't quite sure what it was but he was almost positive she may have felt it, too as a light blush has risen in her typically very pale cheeks. She looked so helpless and so small, on the ground there. There was something tragically beautiful about Emmeline Snape with her pale skin and jet black hair, that currently was pulled into a tight plait, and her eyes- they were dark, almost black, but they were purple. Her eyes showed a girl who had dealt with a lot of pain in her life. And this was why Remus Lupin could never bring himself to taunt Emmeline Snape like his friends did.

He helped her sit up and figured that she probably couldn't walk.

"I think I'm going to have to carry you." He said and she nodded averting her eyes from his.

He picked her up off the ground and couldn't believe how light she was. She couldn't weigh more than 80 pounds and that probably was more than she weighed.

* * *

As Lupin picked me up, I tried my hardest to not look at him. I felt so weak and helpless and I was worried he was going to notice something, my bruises or my scars on my arms. I didn't want him to ask questions.

"Are you okay? I'm not hurting you am I?" He asked, kindly.

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine."

"You're very light." he said.

"Thank you?" I said not sure what he meant by that.

"I don't really know if that was a compliment either." He said chuckling a bit.

I gave him a small smile and looked at him. He had very warm honey-brown eyes and his light brown fell into them slightly. And I noticed he had a large scar above his right eye. I wondered if he had a secret like I did.

"Okay, well here we are." Lupin said as we walked into the Hospital Wing.

"Ms. Snape! Are you okay?" Madame Pomfrey asked as Lupin set me down on the bed.

"I just fell. I hurt my back and my ankle." I said praying that she wouldn't make me talk off any clothing to get a better look.

"You can go now, Mr. Lupin." She said turning to Remus. "Please remove your robe and sweater Ms. Snape so I can look at your back." She said turning back to me.

"Thanks." I mouthed to Lupin as he turned to walk away. After he had turned around I removed my robes. Thankfully Madame Pomfrey asked no questions.

* * *

Remus turned to look at back at her one last time as he walked out the door. She had removed her robes and sweater and was just in a tank top. He was horrified by what he saw. Her shoulders, upper back, and arms had dark, very dark, patches. She covered in bruises. He knew those had not come from the fall. Apparently he was right. Emmeline Snape had had pain in her life. Maybe she had a secret just like he did.


End file.
